


Timeless

by malfunction127_code_ar



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Blood and Gore, Cyborgs, Gen, Multi, Other, Science Fiction, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-19 03:20:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19348459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malfunction127_code_ar/pseuds/malfunction127_code_ar
Summary: 2173, Cyllarius. The city is compromised of cyborgs, humans, and androids that have been created by Neo Tech. Y/N is on a mission to find the thing that brutally attacked their best friend, Doyoung, and bring justice to him. The only thing they have to go off of is his scribbled words and a gut feeling.





	1. startGame

Picking at the cluster of wires within my SENS7 Prototype, I let out a hiss as sparks fly towards my face. Doyoung glances up from where he’s been typing away at his computer, a brow raising in question as I toss down the pliers I was using and rake the fingers of my left hand through my hair.

“This motherfuckin’ SENS7 is killing me. You’re _sure_ that Neo Tech doesn’t have any updated versions they’re not using?”

Doyoung snorts, adjusting his rimless glasses before flicking a piece of neon blue hair from his forehead. “I can promise you that if they did, I would have gotten it to you by now. You know how Neo Tech is with their parts, they don’t care for letting it get out to the public since-“

“Since they might use it to upgrade their own work and find Neo Tech obsolete, I know, I’ve heard it a million times.”

I grumble at his response, trying not to let my frustration bubble up and out to him. It isn’t Doyoung’s fault that my arm has been acting up lately, and while I normally would have been able to manage the small mechanic work, the SENS7 – especially the prototype – was going out of style and crashing hard. My eyes drift slowly from the open wiring and whirring innards of the prototype to where the connection occurs with my normal arm. Or what’s left of it.

The scar tissue is a mottled red, turning black and curling at the closest point of touching metal, and where the red skin that has stretched to accommodate the mechanics has started to degrade. One can see all the pumps and larger wiring that keeps my bones and nerves hidden from the air, hoping to slow the erosion process. Of course, that doesn’t stop people from seeing right into my arm, where there’s twining muscle and sinew attached to blackening bones. Each time I look at this junction of muscle and machine, my stomach drops, and I feel the desperate need to rip the mechanics from myself. I never wanted to be this _thing_.

The sound of Doyoung’s voice cuts through my thoughts and I raise my eyes to look at him as he stares me down. _Hard_.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking, Y/N, and I wish you’d stop. We’ve been over this before. The fact that you have that arm doesn’t make you any less human, and it doesn’t make you look gross. Like, half the population of Cyllarius is cyborg, or some manner of it.”

Scoffing, I point a finger at him from my left hand, “Yeah, and if they’re not cyborg, their those damned _androids_. I seriously can’t believe you work in Neo Tech and rather than being put in the Cyborg Research Department, you got stuck with Android Remodification. Imagine what you could be doing for people like me with your brain!”

He snorts at my outburst, turning back to his computer and continuing his frantic typing. All I can make out from here are some numbers, and what looks to be a coding sequence, but otherwise, I’ve got nothing. Turning back to my own project, I start tinkering at the wires again, hoping that I can at least get these back to their original placement before it starts affecting the rest of my arm’s function.

\---

It’s been about two hours since Doyoung and I returned to our respective pieces of work, and while I’ve finished rewiring and smelting the metal together, closing up the outer panels of my robotic arm, he’s still hunched over his computer, gaze intense and focused on the code before him. At this point, I think I might start screaming if he doesn’t look up from the screen soon, because I’m getting hungry and his shift ended twenty minutes ago.

“Annnnndddd…DONE!” With a triumphant click, Doyoung saves the file and shuts down his computer, the small chip used to store data popping out from the mainframe. He stands, long legs carrying his white cloaked figure to the files on the other side of the lab, where I watch his slender fingers flick through various folders before depositing the chip securely into one and slamming the cabinet closed.

Hopping down from the lab table, I adjust my favorite white and black shirt and give Doyoung a half smile. “So we good to go and get some of the ramen across the street? I heard that the new cyborg there is cooking up some great seafood recipes and I’m _dying_ to try some.”

“Yeah, let me just hang up my coat and then we’ll get going,” Doyoung responds, shrugging off his white lab coat and heading into the locker room, leaving me utterly alone in the darkening android workroom.

Usually I have no problem being in this place, as I tend to find myself holed up here with Doyoung on the weekends, but something feels off today. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s the Changing Season, meaning that the days are shorter and the nights longer. Or maybe it’s the eerie feeling I got that we aren’t alone. Whatever the reason, it makes my skin crawl, and the fingers on both my hands flex in an involuntary response, as if I’m about to fight someone.

As I’m thinking this, a crash sounds from the locker room, and I jump, eyes widening and heart pounding in my chest.

“Doyoung?”

No response, except for the skittering of the robotic spiders that like to hide in the corners of the lab. I take a deep breath, snapping my middle finger and thumb, igniting a flame on my middle finger as I start walking towards the locker room.

“D-Doyoung?” My voice stutters as I get closer to the entrance, that same surge of fear rushing through me. Something was _definitely_ not right.

Letting out a breath I’ve been holding, I nudge the door open with my foot, squinting in the near dark as I try to find a figure or shadow to indicate where Doyoung is. _If he’s pulling one of his stupid ass pranks, I might actually strangle him_ , I think to myself as I take a step around one of the rows of lockers.

It’s impossible to tell where anything is in the space, and I nearly trip over a bench as I attempt to use the flickering flame on my finger to guide my way. As I pass another row of lockers, I suddenly hear a groan, causing me to spin to my right, searching desperately for any sign of Doyoung.

With a few tentative steps forward, I knock the toe of my shoe against the bottom of his boot, releasing the breath I was holding. Careful to not step on him, I walk beside his body, kneeling down and letting the flame hover over his face.

“Oh thank god, Doyoung I thou-SHIT!”

With the flame illuminating his features, I’m met with a bloody scene and what’s become of my best friend. Doyoung’s right eye is completely gone and his right cheek is torn down to the muscle. While I can’t make out much more, I _know_ these can’t be the only injuries he has, but the thought of looking further makes me sick. I barely process the moment where he looks at me, pupil of his left eye dilated to the max, mouth opening and closing but lacking any noise. Whatever he says is lost on me, as I slip into a blackout panic, only the feeling of my fingers pulling at the emergency alarm.

I end up slumping down beside him on the locker room floor, unable to manage anything else. Doyoung’s fingers move of their own accord, and while I don’t realize it then, he’s spelling out a phrase on my skin, desperate for someone to know what’s happened.

\---

The fluorescent lights of Cyllarius General hurt my head, though the fact that a nurse is beaming a flashlight in my fucking eyeballs doesn’t help. I push her hands away, lips pulling back over my teeth in annoyance. I’m not here to get help, my friend needs it. Doyoung needs help. God, where’s Doyoung?

“What’s your name? Do you know what year it is?” The nurse questions, and I try my hardest not to chew her out for keeping me from getting to my friend.

“Y/N Y/L/N. 2173. Where’s Doyoung? Kim Doyoung?”

She blinks slowly, as if processing my words, and I refrain from snapping my fingers in her face to get a quicker answer.

“Mr. Doyoung was taken into surgery as soon as you both arrived. He lost a lot of blood and needed to have his cheek and eye taken care of. There are other injuries he’s sustained, but I believe that’s better suited for the doctor to tell you.”

“Can I see him? Is he going to be okay?”

My mind is frantic with all the things that could go wrong. I’m not sure how severe his injuries are, given the only source of light at the time that I found him was the flame from my finger. What if he was too far gone when they got him here? What if he died while they operated? What if-

“The doctors informed me that he should be perfectly fine, but that the surgery could take a few hours. If you’d like, I can get you set up in the room they prepared for him and get you an estimate on when he’ll be out,” the nurse responds, her voice warm and kind.

I nod and tell her that I would greatly appreciate that, my voice shaking and head full of worries. Once I’ve gotten settled into the hospital room and informed that Doyoung will be just under an hour, I finally give myself time to clean up and calm down, knowing that I’d have a better understanding of everything once Doyoung was here with me.

Under the disgusting yellow lights of the hospital bathroom, I’m faced with a stomach-churning image. My hair is matted to one side of my head with something I can’t define, and when I touch it, my fingers come away a reddish-brown. Both my arms are covered in blood – Doyoung’s – and I can feel the patches of it on my legs, seeping through the clothes I’m wearing. Every inch of me is either covered in blood or sweat, and I want to scrub myself until I’m raw.

“Fuck.”

My fingers pull and tug at the articles of clothing I have on, dumping them on the tiled floor. I conclude that I’ll likely throw them away, unless the hospital has some kind of cleaning service, because the last thing I want to look at is Doyoung’s blood on my favorite shirt. In the shower, I turn the knob until scalding hot water shoots from the shower head, and I scrub myself until my skin burns. Just as I’m debating getting out of the shower, I feel pressure behind my eyes, and suddenly I’m sobbing, unable to stop the tears from falling as I remember how terrified Doyoung looked back at the lab. The way he’d shakily written on my hand, how his mouth had moved, but all I could see was his gaping eye socket and destroyed cheek.

Some time passes before I manage to pull myself together and get out of the shower. My pile of bloody clothes is gone, not a speck of red even on the floor. Instead, a fresh pair of loose pants and a t-shirt are resting on the sink counter, and I notice a small note tied to it, thanking me for coming to Cyllarius General. I tear the thing off, crumpling it and tossing it right into the garbage.

As I step out of the bathroom, rubbing at my hair with a towel, I notice that someone is lying in the hospital bed that previously was empty. My heart jumps into my throat when I recognize the neon blue hair, and I throw aside the towel as I run towards Doyoung, feeling the tears coming on again.

“Doyoung! Thank fucking god you’re okay. I-I-“ my words start to tumble together as I look him over, watching his good eye blink at me slowly until all I can say is apologies and all I can see is a blurry image of my friend.

I press my face into his hand, clutching at the hospital sheets as I whisper that I’m so sorry to him over and over. If I’d been paying more attention, or if I’d just gone with him, this never would have happened. How could I have been so dumb?

There’s a soft noise of disapproval, then twitching fingers brushing against my cheek. When I raise my eyes, Doyoung has a stern look on his face, and while I know one of his eyes is gone, the one good one is staring me down like he always does. It takes a moment for him to speak, the first few attempts giving up nothing but croaks and wheezes, but he manages it.

“Not…your…fault.”

He huffs, closing his good eye and sinking back into the pillows, which indicates to me that he’s worn himself out. I sigh, sitting up in the seat beside his bed and rubbing at my eyes before giving him a once over. Doyoung’s chest rises and falls slowly, rhythmically, letting me know he’s fallen asleep. With that in mind, I rearrange myself in the chair and gaze out the hospital window, the lights of downtown Cyllarius glaring back at me.

I throw my legs over the arm of the chair, folding my arms over the knees and tucking my chin into the crook there. My mind flashes back over the moment when I’d found Doyoung, but I find that it’s becoming less jarring and more infuriating with each moment I think on it. He was attacked, in a place he works so diligently for, by someone or something that I hadn’t seen. The rage that I feel in having been unable to help begins to manifest within me, and I suddenly decide that I’m going to figure out what happened and who did this.

Turning my head, I inspect Doyoung once more before focusing on the table beside his bed. A notepad and pen, compliments of the hospital, await me, and I snatch them up quickly, turning back towards the window. As best I can, I write down the information I have from the scene, finding it barely fills half the piece of paper. Tapping the pen against the pad, I suddenly remember that Doyoung was writing something on my hand.

_But what? It felt like squiggles, not words._

I close my eyes, attempting to picture the things he’d drawn out, hoping it will bring something back to me. The exact pattern he drew is hard to remember, but it feels familiar, like he’s done it before. _Like he…writes it all the time_.

A shock of electricity surges through my body then, causing my eyes to fly open as I remember what Doyoung had been trying to tell me. My fingers shake as I write it down on the pad, knowing that this bit of information was going to be the start of something I couldn’t back out of. Not now, and not ever. Ripping the paper from the pad, I set the pen and notes back down, leaning in to press my lips delicately to Doyoung’s forehead.

“I’ll be back for you, I promise.”

With that, I snatch up the clothes Doyoung had been brought in with, tossing them on and lacing up his boots. Everything fits, just barely, but enough to let me move without being totally uncomfortable. One last glance at Doyoung solidifies my mission, and I give him a sad smile as I head out the door.

My eyes drift down to the note in my hand, fingers crinkling over the words that Doyoung had been frantic to tell me.

_‘AndroidMalfunction127’_

 


	2. startOffer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are few things in life Y/N looks back on. One is their time in Ring, and the other is their relationship with Doyoung. Everything is coming to a head though, as Y/N finds themselves back at the gateway that brought them into hell, and this time, there's no coming back alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this chapter has a bit of ground to cover and obviously a decent amount of members to introduce. Also, while I am aware the way some of the members act might not seem like their normal attitude, this is fiction and I am in no way trying to slander any member.

Purple, red, and blue lights illuminate the black street beside me, a puddle rippling as someone’s foot steps on the very edge and disrupts its still nature. I’m focused on the sign hovering over my head, acting to all the other people of Cyllarius as if I’m attempting to figure out what it says or if I should go inside. Really though, I’m waiting for a certain man to show himself so I can request some things of him. It’s been a while, but I know his old hangouts better than the back of my own hand.

“Well, I never thought I’d see you back in this part of the city, Striker.”

Glancing towards the voice, I wait until the man steps into the same bright lights before responding. Shades of neon bounce off his profile, defining his features perfectly and making them appear handsome. To most people passing us by, we could be friends, or even lovers, but I know better. Johnny Seo doesn’t _do_ lovers, and he most certainly isn’t a friend. I turn my gaze back to the sign above us, shoving my hands further into the pockets of Doyoung’s jacket.

“Ah, and here I thought you’d never show your face to me. I was hoping I could cash in a favor, for old times sake,” I reply, feeling the air between us shift.

Johnny steps closer to me, his eyes bouncing around the darkened street as he acts as if he’s digging around in his own pockets for something. When he produces a lighter, I realize that he _was_ , and I watch as he attempts to get a flame to light. From the corner of my eye I can see one of those RunBack2 cigarettes hanging from his lips, and I sigh.

Holding out my middle finger to him, I light his cig, hearing him mutter a soft thanks as he inhales and adjusts himself. As usual, Johnny is nothing short of a giant, and I’m still at a loss for how he manages to survive like this. Imposing, yet flying under the radar.

“Thought you gave up those damn things when you stopped interacting with Ring. Or did you find it was just too hard to leave that all behind?” I can see him shuffle beside him, and I know I’ve hit a nerve.

We don’t talk about Ring anymore, though usually Johnny and I don’t even interact. If we’ve seen each other around, we act like we haven’t. Nobody that gets out of Ring _ever_ wants to see someone else from there, and it makes sense. I left my life as Striker behind when I escaped, but I get Johnny. Sometimes we go back to the very things that killed us to return the favor.

Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Johnny gives me a sideways look before responding, “And I thought you gave up looking like a trash rat. Guess we were both wrong. What’s this favor you need?”

I turn towards him, fixing my eyes on a spot past his shoulder, looking out for anyone who might be coming up the street. “Two favors, actually. I’ll owe you one. I need to know where a man by the name of Qian Kun is. Works for Neo Tech in the Android Remodification department. Get me his information as soon as possible and I’ll make sure you’re one _very_ happy man.”

Johnny’s eyes light up at that and he shifts closer to me, blowing smoke above my head before a wicked smile pulls at his lips. “Finally gonna take my offer up, Striker? Didn’t you say you’d rather marry a Wertworm than that?”

“Not that kind of happy, Johnny. But it’ll still satisfy you,” I snarl, holding back the urge to lunge at him with the knife I keep stashed on my thigh.

He huffs, but returns his RunBack2 to his lips and takes another drag. “Second thing?”

“You still have ties with TY?”

At that, Johnny’s head snaps in my direction, a mixed reaction of fear and anger written on his features. I can tell he’s debating whether to start screaming at me – which would ultimately draw attention to our conversation – or pin me against the closest wall and suffocate me – which would draw arguably less attention, but would only start a fight he knows he’d lose. After a tense moment of silence, Johnny’s shoulders drop and he looks around a few times, dropping his cigarette and stomping it out with the toe of his sneakers.

“Why would you need to get in contact with that…that fucking maniac? We left that shit behind, Striker.”

“Yeah, well I need him. He’s the only ‘droid left in this city who can get me the equipment I need. I’m not asking you to contact him directly. Get me what you can so I can find him, then you’re free to go.”

Johnny stares at me for a beat longer, scrutinizing my features as if trying to find a lie. I know he’s thinking the same thing I am, that if I get back in with TY, I’ll never get out of this – alive or otherwise – but I don’t have anyone else to turn to. TY is the only android in Cyllarius that’ll get you what you need, underhanded and underbudget, and I can’t risk going into what I’m planning without some upgrades.

With a heavy sigh, Johnny runs his fingers through his black hair, and I watch the pieces fall into place across his forehead. There are a littering of scars above his left eyebrow, and I can still see the cut down his upper lip from the one fight we’d gotten into back in Ring. I’d managed to get a good hit on him before we’d both run off, but that doesn’t mean much. I’m putting both our lives back at risk by asking him for these favors, and I need to know he’ll do it and keep his mouth shut. Just like he’s expecting of me.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Give me two days, and I’ll have everything together,” Johnny states, rubbing his thumb against his jawline.

“Make it one.”

“Not unless you plan on paying me overtime. I’ve got a job that I still have to show up to, even if it’s a shithole. Money talks, Striker, Cyllarius won’t let you live if you don’t let it,” he snaps back.

His response makes my blood boil, but I know he’s right. Majority of the people in Cyllarius are poor, dirt poor even, and barely make enough to stay alive. The only damned people in this city with money are those at the top of Neo Tech. Not even the workers like Doyoung make enough to warrant having a decent lifestyle. It’s why he and I became roommates, and why I was scraping my own way through life just to keep myself fed.

“If you can make it one, I’ll take you up on your offer. But you have to swear to get me that information no later than this time tomorrow, understood?”

His eyebrows raise, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips as he leans in close to me. “ _Now_ , you’ve got yourself a deal, Striker. Don’t worry, I’ll get that information to you, and I’ll make the offer worthwhile.”

With that, Johnny straightens up and stalks off down the road, heading away from where I’ve been watching. I move my head enough to see where he’s going, waiting until he’s turned a corner to let the breath out that I’d been holding. _Fuck, I’m getting in too deep if I’m taking Johnny up on his offers._

My gaze returns to the sign I had been staring at before, and I shake myself out as I make my way to the entrance. _Here we go again_.

\---

The bell above the door lets out a cracking, metallic sound as I entire the shop, eyes darting over every inch of the sheet metal that encloses the space. As I wander towards the counter, I find myself inspecting a few of the trinkets that I previously would have never touched. Things like hidden nailsplicers, a jar of tiny shells that I know explode upon touching any organism, and a heart encased within a box, the dull thudthud of it beating echoing in the near silence. My attention is drawn away from all these items when I reach the counter, and I rap my knuckles against the glass, causing the cashier to jump.

“AY! Striker! When the hell did you get back in this side of town?!”

I force a smile onto my face, though it’s not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Jeno is a good kid, despite working in a shop that sells unsavory items, and knowing he’s still here gives me hope that he’s not getting involved with Ring. His Crimbook closes as he stands up, the hologram disappearing into the case the longer I stare at it.

“Hey kid, good to see you too. I’m just around because I need to sell something. I’m looking to get a little side cash for an…investment I’m making. Think you can help?”

Jeno gives me a look, nose scrunching up at the phrase I use. Even he can tell that something is amiss, but I’m not about to let him know that he’s right. The last thing I need is him turning down my exchange because he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty with my business. Not that anyone is going to come looking for what I’m trying to sell.

With a sigh, he nods his head. “What’dya bring?”

I dig around in the bag I brought with me, sifting through the various junk in hopes that the item is still there. The last time I’d even rummaged around in this tattered old thing was when I was a part of Ring, and it had been buried in the back of my tiny closet since. I had hoped I would never see it again, but like I said, things change. Yanking out the object, I set it down delicately on the glass counter between myself and Jeno, tapping it once.

“No way!” Jeno’s eyes widen as he looks at it closer, inspecting it from every angle he’s capable of in his cramped cashier box. “Is this seriously what I think it is? How’d you manage to get one of these?”

“Don’t worry about how I got it, just tell me how much I can get off of you for it.”

I’m growing a little agitated, but not by Jeno or his astonishment. Every second I stay in this shop is another second I’m losing on getting something to eat before I dive back into the parts of my past I would rather leave behind. And each second that I’m diving back in, I’m risking losing Doyoung forever.

“I’ll give you 40 gnil for it,” Jeno states.

I balk, shaking my head and reaching back out for the item. “This is a real world, classic headset from the 21st century. It’s worth more than 40 gnil, and I’ll take it somewhere else if you think that’s all I’m getting.”

As I make to do just that, Jeno jumps, fingers curling over my right wrist, though I can’t feel much of anything from it. There’s the slightest pressure, but nothing more. He looks frantic, like he’s about to lose something important, and I raise a brow in question at him before he finally speaks.

“Fine. 50 gnil and…20 jibits. That’s my final offer, otherwise it’ll be overpaying.”

I calculate that in my head, my left hand raising to rub my chin. 50 gnil would cover Johnny’s fees up until the offer, and the 20 jibits would get me a decent meal tonight and a bit to help pay off whatever TY might want.

“You’ve got yourself a deal then, Jeno. Thanks for your services.”

He laughs drily at that, handing over the money before taking up the headset and inspecting it further. I wave my hand at him, ensuring that the thing is perfectly fine and will work if he plugs it in properly.

Pausing at the door, I turn back towards him. “And hey, keep that in good condition.”

“Why?” Jeno’s brows are furrowed, his entire body on edge, waiting for me to tell him it’s about to break.

I give him a crooked smile and shrug one shoulder. “Might come back for it someday.”

\----

Everyone around me is chattering in excitement, conversations bouncing around about this and that, the day someone has had, who’s getting married and who’s getting divorced. It’s all background noise as I inhale the ramen I ordered. This was the same place Doyoung and I were supposed to go after he got off work, and while I’m aware that I’m on a mission, I have to admit that I was right. This seafood ramen that this cyborg made is _brilliant_. For the low cost, it’s by far the best food I’ve had in a while.

My attention is focused solely on Neo Tech’s building across the way, the bright lights on the outside burning, but the inner ones turned off. There’s not a police officer in sight, not a crew or anything, and I want to scream at the fact that Neo Tech isn’t doing more about Doyoung’s case. Almost as soon as the police had arrived and Doyoung was shuttled off to the hospital, they had shut down the whole thing. I only recall a brief moment with an officer, as they inspected the crime scene and asked me a single question, but it was over before it began.

Neo Tech hadn’t even put out anything in the news to let people know what happened there. I have a feeling they don’t intend to either, likely wanting to brush it under the rug. Not that they know what happened, but if they’re aware it was an android malfunction, they want to keep it locked up. I shake my head, turning back to my food and nearly choking when a voice pipes up beside me.

“Ya know, I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. And I know _everyone_ in these parts.”

I turn my gaze towards the person beside me, taking in sleek black mechanics and a face that would make the angels cry. If they were real. Black hair slips playfully over dark eyes, and I have to take a moment to collect myself as I realize that this person is a cyborg like myself, if the way his flesh is pulled over some of the wiring in his neck has anything to say about it.

Gulping back my ramen, I laugh softly. “I actually am, but I haven’t had the chance to come visit this place in a while. I’ve been a bit busy…working and such.”

The man beside me nods, and I watch the way the glittering jewelry in his ears catches the light. Each time he shifts, a new piece reflects a fractal of rainbow across his cheeks, and I feel my heart skipping a few beats. Rarely have I run into someone this beautiful. He must sense I’m staring, because he gives me a smile that could shatter hearts before speaking again.

“Well, when you’re not so busy, why don’t you get in contact? I’d love to see you around, get to know you a bit better,” he whispers, sliding his hand over to my own and dragging his fingers across the point where my metal arm meets flesh.

No words come from me, but I manage a nod, which earns another small smile from the man. When he retracts his hand, I find a card is slotted carefully in one of the exposed wires, bright white against the black. By the time I raise my head to say something back to the stranger, he’s gone, and I find myself unsure of what just happened.

Eyeing the card I’ve been given, I read the name scrawled prettily on the front. _Ten. Dance instructor. Interesting._ On the back is a hologram, an eye that winks when you tilt the card, and a huff escapes from my nose. _Just as pretty and cheeky as the man who gave it to me_.

I finish up my meal, heading out of the shop and staring up at Neo Tech. If I could just get in there, then I could inspect the scene myself and get some more clues. But getting inside is impossible unless you have an ID or guest pass, and I don’t have either. My head hangs as I kick at the pebbles beside my boots, trying to find another way in. _If only Doyoung hadn’t left his ID card, then I could get in. That guy, always leaving his things in his coat pockets._

A surge of electricity hits me as I realize that I’m onto something. Digging around in the pockets of Doyoung’s jacket, I let out a triumphant scream as I expose the exact card I was looking for.

“Oh Doyoung, you predictable genius. I’d kiss you if I could right now.” My lips press to the card as I say that, and I sigh happily until I realize that might have been the wrong thing to say. Not the kissing part, but the predictability. What if that was how he’d gotten attacked? Was he too predictable?

I scowl at my own train of thought. _No, Doyoung isn’t to blame for being attacked. It’s Neo Tech and whatever they have in place for security. That’s what got him in the hospital. Their dumbass security._

At that, I rub the back of my neck. Right, security. Even with an ID card, I couldn’t just walk into Neo Tech and not have some run in with _some_ kind of security system right? Like a guard or lasers or something. With a final look at the building, I heave a sigh and decide to give it a shot. _I mean, it can’t be as easy as walking through the door, but I’ll figure it out_.

\---

Turning on the lights of the Android Remodification lab, I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh _. It was as easy as walking through the door. No wonder Doyoung was attacked, this place has no fucking security! Not even a guard at the entrance! How the hell did Neo Tech expect to keep people from getting their grubby hands on all this stuff if they didn’t even put a security system up._

“I’ll have to talk with Doyoung about that when he gets better. Can’t fucking believe they didn’t have a single thing to stop me from getting in here,” I mutter under my breath, starting towards the locker room.

The only sign there was ever any police force in the lab are two criss-crossed pieces of police tape attached to the doorway. _They’re not even at eye level, these dumb fucks. Some stupid lab intern is going to come in tomorrow and smash their face into a locker after they trip over these. God, I don’t know how the officers here in Cyllarius aren’t out of jobs yet._

With a shake of my head, I step over the pieces of tape, flicking the light switch on in the room and heading towards where I found Doyoung. I keep my eye out for anything odd, like a trail of blood or even a random mark, but nothing is immediately evident as I round the corner to the spot where I came across him. Squatting down near where he had been splayed out, I inspect the tracks.

“Just the remnants of a pool of his own blood,” I murmur, raising my eyes to the lockers around us. “No scratches or marks here, not even a dent. How the hell could something have gotten in here and not left _anything_? That just doesn’t make sense.”

Scratching at the back of my head, I step away from the scene, checking a few of the windows and the only other door in the locker room, but nothing stands out. Right when I’m thinking there’s no way I’m going to get anything from looking through here again, a noise sounds from above my head and I stop in my tracks. My head tilts upwards, and I inhale sharply as I suddenly can see exactly what I’d been missing.

Holes puncture the ceiling tiles where the thing must have gripped to move around, and they head right to the spot where Doyoung was. Running back to the entrance to the locker room that faces out to the lab, I see more heading from above where I’d been sitting, coming in from the only open window in the entire place. I jump over the police tape and start scrambling in Doyoung’s workspace for some paper, jotting down the clues before pocketing both the notepad and pen in the bag I brought with me.

I go back to check the locker room for anything else, but other than the holes in the ceiling, there’s nothing giving me any indication of what could have occurred. With a heavy sigh, I squint back at the window that the thing must have come from. Rolling my neck, I start towards it, pausing at the opening that heads right out into the night. If I look up far enough, I can make out the antenna on top of the building, the light blinking ominously in the dark.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” With a glance down at the street below, I consider my options.

I can either head back down to the street and wait it out until tomorrow, when Johnny will get me the information I need and – I shudder at the thought – I’ll accept his _offer_. Or I can climb up this building with absolutely no gear and hope I don’t fall to my imminent death. Worrying at my bottom lip, I weigh the two possibilities in my mind. Either one is risky, because I don’t know if Johnny will have my information, and even if he does, his offer might have me out of commission for a day. But if I go up and fall, I’m dead. Period.

Another look up at the top of the building has me sighing heavily. _The things I do for Kim Doyoung, I swear_.


	3. returnFavor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Johnny was supposed to be simple. It was supposed to be another step on the longer trail to finding out what happened to Doyoung. Instead, like everything with Johnny, it becomes a fight for both Y/N and his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short - or at least it feels like it to me. If you'd like to read more of my past writing, check out moonlitau on Tumblr. And for those of you who may want to help me out (since I am struggling to get money together for basic necessities), I've got a ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/malfunction127_code_ar) where you can request some writing from me!

My foot taps ceaselessly against the elevator floor, eyes roving the metal death box as I try to imagine what I would find on the roof. The anxiety I feel from traversing so high up this building makes my stomach twist in knots. I roll my shoulders back, thinking about just minutes before where I’d thought about scaling the side of the building with my bare hands. _As if I could have survived that. This is what elevators are for, dumbass_.

The elevator shaft doesn’t go straight to the roof, so I have to climb the last staircase up to the exit, the door creaking as pressure is applied to the rusted hinges. It gives even more of an eerie feeling to the already disturbing aura radiating from the top of Neo Tech. To those who look up from the sidewalk, all they could see was a misting of clouds, and I felt a sort of press on my lungs at the thinning air. Rather than concern myself with the damage being done to my respiratory system, I move away from the stairs, breathing out a small wisp of white.

I inspect the immediate area around me with the flashlight I found wedged in a random desk, trying to keep any noises I make quiet. If anyone looks back through the security footage – if Neo Tech even _has_ that – they are going to see a _lot_ of violations. Instead of thinking over how deep my illegal actions are running, I make my way across the rooftop. Gravel cracks under my boots, echoing in the darkness, an occasional stone I’ve kicked up bouncing off metal.

As with in the lab, nothing stands out to me, and I find myself heading right for the antenna at the farthest corner of Neo Tech’s roof with hopes I’ll find answers there. Every slight noise, whether from the streets below or the sky above my head, has me on edge, and I curse myself for not bringing anything more damaging than a fucking knife. If I were to get attacked right now, there was no saving myself. Or worse, I could end up falling over the lip of the roof and splattering on the sidewalk.

I shudder at the thought, shaking myself out as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. _Quit thinking that shit, Y/N. You’re fine right now, and you’re just inspecting. Nothing is going to happen._

Reaching the antenna, I shine my flashlight on it, picking up glints of reddish-brown that, on further inspection, are definitely Doyoung’s blood. I take a slow step forward, raising my light as I try to figure how fair the marks go up the metal caging, barely paying attention to my surroundings. Just as I’m about to place my left foot down, something squishes under the sole of my shoe, making me jump back and nearly drop my flashlight.

“What the hell?!”

The beam of light bounces off the gravel roof, glinting across various items that people had strewn across it on their breaks, only stopping when I finally see exactly what I’d nearly crushed underfoot.

Doyoung’s right eye stares back at me from the ground, causing bile to rise in my throat and make me gag. A part of me wants to reach forward and pick it up, bring it back to the hospital and demand they put it back. But that wouldn’t do any good. I would be tampering with a crime scene, and it’s not like the doctors could put the damn thing into Doyoung again. That would be unsanitary and pointless.

Instead, I let myself look at it one more time before deciding I need to go home. Every muscle in my body is starting to ache, and I can feel sleep pressing at the backs of my eyes. If I ever want to figure out who or what did this, I need to get some rest. I turn on my heel, heading back to the stairway, not noticing the shadows moving behind me.

If I had looked back, I would have seen a hand reach out and pick up the eye I’d left behind.

\---

Sunlight blinds me as I roll over in bed and toss my arms over my face. Somewhere in the distance, a car horn is blaring, and I can register voices whispering on the other side of the wall, but I ignore them. The last thing I remember is making it back to Doyoung and I’s apartment before crashing right onto the closest flat space.

_At least it wasn’t the floor_ , I think to myself as I sit up, rolling out my joints and hearing the telltale snapping of bones popping back into place. As I rise to my feet, my gaze falls on the mess that surrounds me, nose scrunching at the smell that greets me. When I glance down at myself, I realize that I’ve been wearing the exact clothes Doyoung was attacked in, meaning I’ve been walking around this whole time with blood splattered on my pants and shirt.

“Fucking hell. People probably think I went out and killed someone,” I groan while removing the articles.

Thankfully Doyoung’s boots and jacket are clean, so I lay those back on my bed as I riffle through the drawers across the room. I pick up a few odd shirts, but none of them quite work, and I finally decide that nothing I have is going to be comfortable enough for what I’m going to be doing today. My tongue runs over the backs of my teeth as I consider my options. I could go out and buy some clothes, or I could steal some things from Doyoung.

I tilt my head towards the doorway of my bedroom, sightline dead on to Doyoung’s own living quarters, and I contemplate it. The worst thing that could happen is Doyoung chews me out when he gets better. _But he’ll be doing that regardless of whether or not I steal some of his clothes._ One eyebrow raises in response as I shrug and agree with myself.

After digging through some of his things, I find a loose black shirt and pair of worn jeans, which I throw on before heading back into my room and yanking on the rest of the items I’d taken from him. Before I leave the apartment again, I stuff a few extra articles of clothing into my bag and a couple pieces of fruit that haven’t gone entirely bad. I make sure to lock the door behind me, even though I doubt anyone would go snooping in here for anything.

Down on the street, I easily weave my way through pedestrians, listening closely to the clicks and whirrs of cyborgs and androids walking beside me. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of a human, and I wonder what it must be like to be totally normal these days. When everything around you is turning to the machines, what point is there to having a regular heart pumping blood through your veins? Of course, I can’t say much, since I’ve still got my own bloody heart pounding in my chest.

The spot where I’m supposed to meet Johnny appears sooner than I expected, though the giant is nowhere to be seen. Crouching down by a pile of boxes, I pull an apple from my bag and take a bite, letting myself soak in the life happening around me. This part of Cyllarius is notorious for no-goods, and I’m more than aware that, by sitting around in broad daylight, I’m bringing suspicion onto myself.

My apple crunches beneath my teeth as I wave at a woman passing with her child. The lady ducks her head, hissing something under her breath while her kid gives me a giant smile, openly staring at my robotic arm. I consider the repercussions for a moment before letting the paneling shift, reflecting light and causing the kid to squeal and tug at their mother’s arm. With that, I stand and toss my apple into the street, watching the vermin fight over it as I attempt to find another place to hide myself.

\---

Time passes by slowly, the crowds thinning out as individuals head to work or back home, shifts changing over and humans replacing androids at their stations. At one point I find myself nodding off, head slumping back against a wall that I’ve been standing next to. It’s only when something bangs behind me that I jump up, turning quickly to figure out what made that noise. My heart slows when I catch sight of the culprit and I relax, pointing my knife at him.

“You’re damn lucky I didn’t decide to toss this thing at you, or you’d be dead, you son of a bitch. Don’t you remember you don’t sneak up on people like me?”

Johnny stalks past the spot where I am, peaking around the corner of the building. I watch the way he moves, taking in his hunched form and stiff movements. Something has him on edge, and whatever it is, it’s starting to worry me. I make to put away my knife, but Johnny raises a hand to stop me.

“Keep that out,” he snaps, eyes meeting mine only briefly before he steps back into the shadows and hides his face. “I’ve been followed, but I don’t know by who. We need to get out of this area. _Now_.”

With that, he begins walking out into the daylight, heading in the opposite direction of where I’d come from. I follow close behind, knife resting against the metal of my right arm as I attempt to keep stride with Johnny. He doesn’t say anything else to me, but his breathing is shallow, and every step he takes seems to be uncomfortable, as if he’s in pain. My eyebrows furrow together when we make a turn and he nearly trips over his own feet.

The hand that wasn’t thrown towards me earlier flies from under his long jacket, slapping against the yellowed brick of the shop we’re passing. When Johnny rights himself, I can see a red stain left behind that drips as wet paint, and I feel my vision tunnel. He’s bleeding, and clearly it’s bad if he’s struggling to breathe. My head whips around, searching for a place where I can hide him for a moment and check over his wounds.

“Come here, you giant oaf. We’ve got to get you out of this heat,” I whisper, wrapping an arm around his middle and starting towards a small alcove.

It isn’t necessarily hidden, but if something _is_ chasing us, it leaves only one point of entry. Settling Johnny down on a pile of scrap cloth, I put down my bag, yanking at his large black jacket. He groans softly, swatting at my hands whenever I attempt to get him undressed.

“Stop it, you’re gonna get us…killed. We-we’re sitting ducks…like this,” he wheezes.

When he attempts to stand, I press a hand to his chest, firmly pushing him back down to a sitting position and straddling his lap. I watch something glint in his eyes, a sort of wicked intention settling there, but it fades when he takes a breath. Clearly, he’s in more pain than I thought if he can’t even make a lewd joke.

With no further objections, I shove his jacket off his shoulders, reaching my fingers down to his sweat soaked brown shirt. That comes off as well, placed neatly on one of the boxes near his feet before I sit back and assess the damage.

“God, Johnny, what did they _do_ to you?”

From what I can see of his chest and stomach, Johnny has been through hell and back, something I know well, but not _this_ well. With shaky hands, I start inspecting his wounds, gaze darting over each injury and guessing at how much it is currently affecting him. Many of the cuts have healed up, scars rippling his skin, but otherwise looking fine. A few ugly green and yellow bruises litter his ribcage, and I can see a few blue and purple ones peaking from the waistband of his pants. While those are terrible, they aren’t the cause of his bleeding, and I quickly bypass them.

Johnny coughs suddenly, causing his entire body to shrink in on itself as he lets out a small cry. As he attempts to shift himself, I finally see what I’m looking for and have to take a deep breath to steady myself. From the point just below his left armpit to the bottom of his left ribcage is an open wound, blood seeping from where the skin has parted. The deepest part seems to be up by his arm, and I can see that bruising has begun forming around the wound.

“Alright, I-I’m going to wrap this. Hold on,” I manage, grabbing at my bag and tugging out one of the t-shirts I brought along.

Ripping at the collar of the shirt, I do my best to get the necessary length, but each time I attempt to cover the wound and wrap it, I find the cloth is too short. A curse spills from my lips as I stare back at Johnny, watching as his eyes start to close.

My hand gently taps at his right cheek, as I try to keep him focused. “Hey, hey Johnny, you gotta stay with me, okay? I-I have to return the favor, remember?”

Chuckling, he manages to crack an eye open to give me a look, “Then I guess…I can’t die.”

“Damn right.”

I look around us, eyes flickering about in an attempt to find something to stop the bleeding. Just as I’m thinking there’s nothing I can do but sit here and watch Johnny bleed out, a voice pipes up behind me. Instinct kicks in as I stand and draw my knife, pointing it at the entrance to our hiding spot.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged into my territory,” the person teases. “Be glad it’s me and not someone else catching you in this dead end. Otherwise, you and your friend here would be dinner.”

I swallow, fingers tightening around the handle of my blade as I watch the person step into the light. He blinks a few times, adjusting to the change before returning his gaze to me. Clearly unconcerned with the weapon I hold, he moves right past me to Johnny, hands reaching out slowly to pull at his arm.

“Come on and help me get him into my home, otherwise he’ll end up dead. I can’t exactly lift him myself,” the man snaps.

Stuffing my knife back into my pants, I throw my bag over my shoulder before tugging Johnny up and shifting his weight onto me. The man seems surprised, staring as I begin walking towards the opening into the alcove. After a moment of astonishment, he finally starts to move as well, leading me towards a small home down the road. Johnny mumbles something into my hair that I can’t register, but I think it’s something about how strong I am.

As the door to the man’s home opens, I brace myself for what lies inside the darkness. Either Johnny and I would be walking out of here alive, or this was our last stop on our trip.


	4. acquireHealer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N isn't sure how they ended up here, in a home that they've never seen, with a man that looks nothing like them. But if it saves Johnny, they're sure that it doesn't hurt anything to be a little trusting. Plus, Taeil seems more interested in what they're doing than what he could do to them.

“Now set your friend over here, would you? Then I can start fixing him up,” the man whispers from somewhere within the dark room.

I take a step forward, heading in the direction of his voice when he suddenly shouts.

“NO! Not that way! _This_ way! You’ll trip over my favorite trinkets if you go over there.”

A grumble escapes my lips as I adjust my positioning, starting towards where I _think_ the man is. Of course, the entire space is pitch black, not even a crack of light filtering in. Just as I’m thinking I’ve managed to figure out where I’m going, another cry makes me startle, nearly dropping all of Johnny’s weight so I can grab some kind of weapon.

“OH! Not there! Those are my plants! Come over _here_.”

“Listen, I’m grateful for you helping us,” I groan, shifting Johnny’s body, “but maybe it would help if you had some _light_ in here? I’m not entirely sure where I’m going in this darkness.”

There’s no immediate response, and I wonder briefly if the man has left us entirely, since I’m struggling to hear anything that isn’t above talking volume. With another soft sigh, I tentatively place my right foot forward, jumping when a hand brushes my left shoulder and orange eyes meet my gaze as I turn my head. These same eyes stare at me intensely before there’s a clicked tongue of dissatisfaction.

“Ah, you’re one of _those_ kind. Can’t see in the dark or anything, how pitiful.” The man’s voice is moving further away from me, and I wonder how he could possibly be moving around so easily in this pitch black.

Finally, blissfully, light floods the room and I let my eyes adjust as I slowly take in my surroundings. I am, indeed, extremely close to a cluster of twisted green foliage, which I take a step away from before letting myself look for the man I briefly saw in the alcove. He’s standing beside a window, squinting out into the bright sunlight as if he’s never really seen it. _Perhaps he’s a hermit. It would explain the rather cluttered home._

Instead of asking, I make a beeline for the table set in the middle of all the mess, placing Johnny down with a heavy sigh before straightening up. I roll out my shoulders, spine, and neck before letting my gaze fall onto the man again. Since we’ve stepped inside, he’s yet to remove the hood over his head, and I feel my fingers twitching to grab for my knife. The last thing I need is for him to be some bounty hunter and we be the helpless victims sent somewhere we would never return from.

Without turning to look at me, the man speaks, voice soft as silk. “There’s no need to be nervous and grab for weapons in this place. I’m a healer, not a hunter.”

At that, the man turns to me, raising golden hands to the cloth around his head, which falls to his shoulders easily. I’m awed, taking in his features and feeling something curl inside me, some primal urge to either run away or rush at him, because he’s not…human. Not even a cyborg or an android. This man is something else entirely, and it unsettles me.

“I’m a Lancifilum,” the man clarifies, bright orange eyes peering at me from where he digs through a cabinet.

My brows furrow in confusion, lips parting on a sound of uncertainty. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t think I know what…that is.”

He sniffs, nose crinkling in towards his features in a way reminiscent of the small scraggly creatures that attack the vermin near my apartment. Rather than dignify my response with an answer, the man grabs a few items from the cabinet before turning back to Johnny and beginning to line up his goods. I can see wrappings and a purple concoction that shimmers slightly as I shift closer to the table, but otherwise I’m unsure of what he’s laid down.

While the man works on cleaning up the wounds on Johnny’s chest, I find myself focusing in on his features. _I wonder why I’ve never seen someone like him. I don’t even think I’ve **heard** of someone like him before_.

“If you intend to keep gawking, I think it would benefit you best to do so out of the immediate area. I need space to save your friend, and I don’t care for staring,” the man snaps, causing my cheeks to redden in embarrassment at being caught.

I bow my head slightly, stepping out of the space and settling on a creaky old chair. “Apologies, um, mister…”

“Taeil. Please now, be quiet. I must focus.” At that, Taeil shuts out all other noises and dives into caring for Johnny, something I wish I could have done earlier.

_Taeil. Strange. I’ve never heard a name like that before either._

While Taeil works, I attempt to find something to distract myself with, such as some of the pieces of wood beside me, but that doesn’t last long. After making a third stabbing stick, I put away my knife, balling my left hand into a fist and resting my chin against it as I watch Taeil work. Despite what he said about not caring for being stared at, I have a feeling he really doesn’t mind, if the way he glances at me briefly before rolling his eyes has anything to say about it.

Rather than immediately jump into all the questions I have, I soak in Taeil’s features. His orange eyes are so round, settled into his face in such a way that the dark black patterns around them bring your attention right to the brilliant hue. I attempt to figure out what the patterns _are_ , perhaps tattoos or symbols, but there’s no discernable reason behind the way they cut across his face, and I frown slightly.

Peeking from beneath dark brown hair are ears that point up and curve in at the tips, fine reddish-brown hairs lining the outer curve and melting into the edge of Taeil’s hair. I’m surprised to find that, when Taeil shifts, the same black pattern slides down his neck and seems to reach his shoulders, though I can’t see much more. Twined with those marks are white slashes that, for a second, I think are scars, but on closer inspection are truly just like the black colorations.

A sigh escapes Taeil, and I blink as I realize I’ve been gazing at him for quite some time. Heading towards a sink beneath the window, Taeil washes his hands before wiping them clean on a towel and turning towards me. His body language is tight, as if prepared to pounce at any single movement, causing my heartrate to pick up at the thought of having to suddenly fight off someone in my rather relaxed state. A snort escapes his lips as he waves his hand at me, collecting the items he used on Johnny.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite. I usually don’t do that unless someone asks me to,” Taeil teases, causing another patch of red to sneak onto my cheeks.

Clearing my throat, I compose myself before standing and inspecting Johnny. “So he’s alright?”

Taeil hums in conformation, filling a tea kettle with water and setting it over a stove that likely is the last thing remaining of a 21st century kitchen, but it clicks on regardless, and I marvel at the way Taeil seems adapted to this type of life. He settles himself comfortably on a stool that was hidden under the table, orange eyes staring me down until I reach beneath and find another to sit on as well.

“Would you rather ask me questions first or have me ask you some?” Taeil inquires, finally removing his hood entirely and allowing me to see all the marks that crisscross his golden skin.

At a loss for words, I can only gape at the intricate patterns over his flesh, which makes Taeil chuckle softly. “Right, I suppose that means I’m asking some first.”

He shifts his weight, throwing his right leg over his left knee and propping his chin on his folded hands that rest upon that same appendage.

“How exactly did you and your friend here come to this part of Cyllarius? And I suppose I should ask how in the _world_ your friend got these injuries,” Taeil starts, thumb brushing against his bottom lip. “Those are some of the worst I’ve seen in a while, and he’s lucky he’s not dead.”

I swallow thickly at his words, feeling dread settle into my veins. _He could have died. I could have gotten him killed purely because I had no idea what I was doing_.

“We were meeting up to exchange some information originally, but Johnny was followed, and we had to get out of the area,” I offer, rubbing at my right forearm. I glance over at him, exhaling shakily before looking back at Taeil. “And I honestly have no idea how he got all those injuries.”

At Taeil’s raised eyebrow, I shake my head fiercely and grit my teeth. “I know how he got _some_ of those injuries, but the newer ones…I don’t know what he got into, but I have a feeling it had to do with the information he was getting to me.”

Taeil makes a noise of understanding, getting up to take the kettle off the stove as he pours out some water and adds what appears to be tea leaves to the cups that reside on the counter. When he brings them over, I thank him and take the proffered drink, inhaling the steam. It sets my muscles at ease, and I warily glance at Taeil, who seems to register my hesitance and take a sip of his own before nodding my way.

“It’s merely green tea. I wouldn’t go around using my heavier medicines to drug people who clearly have no ill will towards me,” Taeil explains, taking another sip of his drink.

At that, I frown slightly, but decide that it would be rude to turn down a drink after he helped save Johnny’s life. The tea goes down easy, and I do feel better after having it, which clearly makes Taeil happy. Once I’ve finished up, I set aside my cup, settling my hands on my knees and giving him a hard stare.

“My turn. What the hell is a Lancifilum? Not to be rude or anything but I’ve _never_ seen or heard of that before,” I begin.

I watch Taeil’s eyes dim briefly, a mask of pain covering his features before he shakes himself out of it, drinking the last of his tea and placing his cup down. From the way he moves, I can tell he’s kept whatever he’s about to tell me locked up for quite some time, and I wonder why he’s so closed off.

“The Lancifilum was a race of…I suppose you could call them _aliens_ , though I think that’s a bit harsh. Perhaps…hybrids, would be a better way to express it,” Taeil starts, pursing his lips. “We’re descendants of the goddess of animals and a human, though the actual story is long lost to me. My people were some of the first to inhabit Cyllarius, back when it all looked as this part of the city does. Barren, a desert, just a cluster of houses that let us live in relative peace with a few plants to shade us from the sun.”

His nose scrunches, a memory coming to him I have no access to. “At some point, Cyllarius began to grow, technology rapidly replacing what was our home. Soon, the Lancifilum began to disappear, just…vanishing. As if we were never there. I can’t recall the exacts of when that happened, probably around the same time Neo Tech gained all its popularity, but I’m not sure.”

Stretching out his legs, Taeil rubs at the back of his neck. “To be entirely honest, I’m not surprised my kind started disappearing. Because of our breeding, our genetic makeup with tiger DNA, we were dangerous. I remember fights breaking out between neighbors that turned bloody without a forethought, as if we were ruled by nature and not our minds. There were so many times that people were angered merely by a sideways look.”

“What’s a tiger, Taeil?”

He laughs, nodding his head in response. “Right, you wouldn’t know about that. Ah, tigers are animals that existed in the 21st century, but went extinct when the rainforests disappeared. They were apex predators, rulers of the land, and hunters. That’s why you felt so unsettled with my quietness and the way I moved around. I’ve got that within my genetics, to be a hunter and to prey on weaker beings.”

At that statement, I frown, but Taeil merely laughs at his own little joke. If you could call it that. After some silence, he lets himself look back at me, taking in my own features and the way I rub at my right forearm. I watch as his pupils dilate, then promptly shrink back to slits before he stands abruptly and checks on Johnny.

The movement catches me off guard, and I stand as well, contemplating whether I should reach out for him or not. “Taeil, is-“

“Your friend here should be healed in a day or so. Move him to the room just off of the main entrance and rest. The both of you will need it based on what I’ve heard,” Taeil instructs, snatching up his hood and starting for the door. “I should be back in the morning, but please do not leave the house. It’s not safe out there, and I would hate to have to fix either of you up again.”

With that, he gives me a half smile before promptly exiting, silence enveloping me as I wonder what just happened. Johnny groans softly from the table though, and I decide that it isn’t the current concern. If Taeil wanted to talk about it, he would, but for now, Johnny and I should get some rest.

\---

It’s dark when I wake up, my eyes adjusting to the pitch black a bit easier than when we first entered Taeil’s home. Johnny is fast asleep, and I can see that his bruises aren’t as dark, so at least he’s getting better. A noise in the main part of the house has me on alert, and I grab my knife before leaving the guest room, sticking close to the walls and praying I can’t be heard.

While I’m glad it’s dark to keep me hidden, I can’t tell what time of day it is, and that unsettles me. If it’s still nighttime, then Taeil is still out, and this could be some random intruder in his home. But if it was morning and Taeil _was_ home, then what the hell was he doing making so much noise? As I round the corner into the kitchen, I pause abruptly, body shaking at the sight before me.

Taeil is home alright, and hunched over a figure that lies on his kitchen floor. While there’s very little light filtering in from the window due to the early morning, I can still catch a dark substance trailing towards where he is, and it takes everything in me not to scream. Whether in fear or rage or some mixture of the two, I’m unsure, but it dies in my throat when Taeil’s eyes catch mine, stopping me from doing anything.

“T-Tae-Taeil, wh…what are you-“

My words falter in my throat, and then die out entirely when he stands, pupils dilated, and hands exposed towards me. It only takes a quick glance down to see that the nails I previously had glossed over are out, and covered in blood. Blood from the very body that was resting in the kitchen behind Taeil, who is advancing towards me with a predatory look that leaves me weak.

The knife I’m holding is still brandished before me, but I know it won’t do much. At least not if I want to keep myself alive. _But to break whatever trance Taeil is in…it might just work_. Without another thought, I straighten up, letting Taeil get as close to me as I see comfortable. Once in range, I swing my knife at him, slicing across one exposed arm and causing him to rear back, a growl tearing from his throat as I duck into the darkness and wait to see if it worked.

A moment passes in silence, then another, and another, until I’m starting to think Taeil has figured me out and is hunting me in the darkness. The fear of that thought creeps in and sinks under my skin, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut and wish for his attack to be quick. As long as I can keep Johnny safe, then it’ll be perfectly fine. Then he can go and figure out what happened with Doyoung. _Or he’d just go home. Johnny has no stakes in this game_.

“Hey, are you-“

I jolt, rolling forward and slashing out, nearly missing Taeil’s throat with my knife. We both freeze, moonlight pouring in from the newly opened window, bathing us in an unearthly glow. Taeil is covered in blood, but his pupils have gone back to normal, and I can see he’s bandaged the arm that I sliced just a minute ago. His throat bobs as he swallows, clearly unsure of what I’ll do next, just as I am uncertain of his own plans.

“If you’ll put away the knife, I can explain myself a bit better. But I think we both would benefit from the removal of something that ignites our fight or flight response,” Taeil whispers, voice low to not scare me.

Hesitating, I consider what could happen if I don’t put it away. If Taeil is right in what he says, he’ll likely revert to his previous nature and attack in order to protect himself. But if I put it away, he could do the same thing and I’d be left defenseless. Taeil likely can see the cogs in my brain working, because he takes a slow step back from me, raising his hands to where I can see them.

“I won’t hurt you, so long as you don’t hurt me.”

My breath escapes me in a rush as I lower my gaze, putting away my knife and rising from my kneeling position. I refuse to look at Taeil or the kitchen as he rushes around to clean up, a few candles being lit to help me see better. With a little more light, I’m able to track the blood from the front door to the kitchen, and I feel my stomach twist. In a matter of not even two days, I’ve seen more blood than I ever hoped to see again, and I’m not even back at Ring.

_When I get back there, it’ll probably be my own blood I’m seeing_.

A stool is gently placed beside me, a warm cup of tea set next to it on the pile of books that qualify as a table in the main room.

“Would you like to sit? Or would you prefer to stand?” Taeil asks, hesitating to sit himself in case I decide to react negatively to him.

I can tell he’s not going to act out, so I decide to reciprocate the civility and take a seat, thanking him quietly for the cup of tea that I hold close to my cold body. Neither of us speaks for a while, both unsure of how to start the conversation of what I just witnessed.

Taeil finally does so, tongue darting out to coat his dry lips. “I want to apologize for what you saw, I…I usually don’t bring home…my meals.” He grimaces at the phrasing, and I try not to let my own repulsion show. Instead, I take another drink and nod my head slowly for him to continue. “Generally I don’t even eat…well, non-animal meat. Like I said, my kind were wiped out likely from the fear of us, and I don’t want to be next.”

“Then why bring that home? Why hunt a person anyway?” I hiss, causing Taeil to shrink away from me.

He looks hurt, and I want desperately to take back the vicious nature of my words, but I can’t now. The damage is done, much like the physical affliction I brought to him. Instead of shutting down, or perhaps even responding in kind, Taeil merely looks defeated.

“Before I left, you were rubbing at your arm, and something in me just… _snapped_. I could feel a feeding frenzy coming on, much stronger than anything I’ve felt before. I believe it’s because of the…exposed nature of your arm there,” Taeil offers, waving a finger at the appendage in question.

With a glance down, I understand what he means, as I can see down to the muscle in my arm now, much of the connections between flesh and metal burning away. If I were a creature like Taeil, I could comprehend why he might have a negative reaction to the exposure. It was grotesque to many, but clearly triggered something within him he had no control over. Sucking my teeth, I look around to find an item to cover it, only for Taeil to offer a large sweater.

“Thank you,” I murmur, pulling on the article and sinking into the smell of rain and flowers.

He nods, not returning the sentiment in words. “It was dangerous to do any of this with you both around. I should have held off, or asked you to leave once Johnny was done. I’ve just…” Taeil pauses, shifting across from me, “I’ve rarely had people around who aren’t terrified of me.”

At his words, I reach out my hand, letting it rest on his until he decides to look at me. Nothing is said, though I can tell Taeil knows what I’m trying to send to him without having to speak it. His hand turns over, gripping mine, and we both sit in comfortable silence until noise rises from the guest room.

I sit up, placing my cup down and giving Taeil a look. “Johnny is up. I’ll keep him occupied until you can get this cleaned up. After that, we’ll be on our way.”

Taeil nods, getting up and rushing to the kitchen to take care of his business. On my part, I take quick steps to the guest room, stepping in and shutting the door behind me as quietly as I can. Johnny is barely awake, but he seems to recognize me and smiles softly when I climb onto the bed beside him.

“H-“ he coughs, swallowing a couple times to wet his throat, “hey. Where the hell are we?”

“A friend’s. His name is Taeil, and he helped fix you up after you showed up to me nearly dying,” I answer, letting my fingers run through his unruly bedhead.

Johnny at least has the decency to look ashamed, though it lasts only a few moments before he’s sending a smirk my way and reaching out one large hand to grab at my waist. There’s something familiar in the touch, something that I remember fondly, even if I know that I shouldn’t fall back into it. In Ring, Johnny and I had something, though I never was sure what to call it. A connection, perhaps. One that was physical, yes, but ran deeper than friendship and was less than romance. We were partners, live or die.

“I’m glad he could fix me up. If I’d died on you out there, I never would have been able to tell you what I found out about the guy you were looking for,” Johnny breathes.

I can’t take my eyes off his face, watching how his own gaze searches me for _something_. At my lack of response, he leans closer, noses brushing against one another and breath mingling.

“I never would have gotten you to TY,” Johnny continues, each word harder to process. “Never would have helped you…find out what happened to Doyoung. Never would have…”

His sentence trails off, lips just barely touching mine as we both refuse to move away. I know what he’s thinking, and while I can’t say for sure what I’m feeling, I can sense it’s something he is going through as well. The struggle to go back to what we had in Ring, to what we lost at parting ways, to being there for each other through anything. Johnny raises his eyes to look at me from under his lashes, and I feel my heart slam in my chest.

“Can I?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is probably one of my favorites. I loved writing Taeil's character out and I hope to continue to mesh him into the rest of the story - much like a lot of the NCT members will be! Apologies before hand on the cliffhanger, but I promise it won't last long, I've already got ideas generating for the next chapter. Feel free to inbox me, leave comments and kudos, and anything else! I love hearing from readers.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be multiple parts to this story, though I currently am still working out the bugs of the work. Also, I don’t know if there will necessarily be a love interest, but we’ll see how that works out.


End file.
